When hard work and dedication are chalked up to good fortune
Folks have been calling me lucky for as long as I can remember. Whenever a job turns the corner or we finally catch a break after a rough patch, someone’s quick to say, “Boy, you sure are lucky.” Hear that enough, and you would think luck was following me around like a lost puppy. But I’m here to tell you, luck has nothing to do with it.
What most people call luck is really the result of me getting up early every morning, exercising while listening to audio books where successful people explain how they got there, working hard day in and day out, and sticking to habits most people don’t bother with.
In business, nobody gets ahead by waiting for the right moment. You move forward by showing up before the problems arrive and staying when others look for a reason to leave. The work does not care about good intentions or bad timing. It rewards consistency. It rewards discipline. And over time, it rewards people who refuse to sit still when conditions turn against them. Too often, those results get mislabeled as luck.
Learning the Hard Way
I was nineteen when I started my first company. Back in those days, you learned on the job, and you learned fast. My first commercial project was a Kentucky Fried Chicken build, and I got off to a discouraging start by laying block straight through an opening that was supposed to be a set of doors. When the general contractor stopped me and asked if I knew there was a doorway where I’d just built a wall, I didn’t try to bluff my way out of it. I told him the truth. I could lay block and brick, but I had a lot to learn about reading blueprints.
He agreed to teach me how to read the plans and point out where the walls and openings should be, on one condition: I couldn’t quit halfway through. I promised to see it through with his support.
I always arrived early, prepared mortar ahead of the masons, and quickly fixed or hand-mixed if the mixer broke down. Tom Kern (my first employee and later partner) and I worked evenings repairing tools, loading trailers, and preparing for the next day. We ensured every job was done efficiently, well, and on schedule.
When the Work Pushes Back
One winter, a job tested everything I had worked to establish. Our client, built like a linebacker and just as intimidating, failed to prepare the site the way he had promised. When delays hit, he blamed us. He threatened to toss my company off the project for failing to meet his timeline, and he had no interest in listening to our explanations about what really caused the problems.
My business was on the line, so I rallied my team. We bundled up, braved the freezing temperatures, and used heaters to thaw water barrels to keep our work moving. Every hour was a test of our endurance, but we did not quit. When the project finally wrapped, people called it luck. But what pulled us through wasn’t luck. It was grit, teamwork, and the resolve that shows up when failure is not an option.
Excuses Versus Ownership
Over the years, I have seen two types of people on jobsites. Some look for reasons why things did not work. Others look for ways to make them work anyway.
One foreman I worked with, Dave (not his real name), blamed every delay on circumstances outside his control. Weather. Deliveries. Other trades. There was always an excuse ready. Progress suffered because responsibility never landed anywhere.
Then there was Big Mike, a crew leader who never wasted energy complaining. He focused on what needed to happen next. If the plan failed, he adjusted it. If the crew was behind, he stayed late. He never asked anyone to do something he would not do himself. His motto was, “No excuses, just extra commitment.” People followed him because they trusted his response when pressure mounted. His secret wasn’t luck; it was refusing to let a setback stop him.
What Luck Really Looks Like
I have worked with people who knew everything there was to know about the job and still froze when the plan changed. I have also worked with people who did not have every answer but kept projects moving because they knew how to respond when conditions shifted. That difference gets mistaken for luck all the time.
There has never been anything lucky about my career. Each break came after long stretches of effort that nobody noticed. Every opportunity followed pressure that forced better habits.
Luck is not the source of success for anyone. It never has been. It never will be. It is simply the label people apply to outcomes when they were not there to see the work, the pressure, and the creativity that got the job done.
My advice is simple: Stop chasing that elusive lucky break. If you stay disciplined when conditions shift, solve problems instead of making excuses, and surround yourself with people who do the same, things tend to work out. Not on a schedule. Not without effort. But consistently, they work out. Luck getting the credit doesn’t change the result.
